United States M1 Garand

U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1

This is one of my most accurate military surplus rifles. Manufactured by Springfield Armory in 1944, it was one of thousands of M1 Garands that the United States gave to Denmark after World War II. Denmark returned about 20,000 of them to the U.S. in the late nineties. It has a Danish VAR barrel dated 4-61.

Background

The M1 rifle was the first semiautomatic rifle to be the standard small arm of the US Military, and the first semiautomatic rifle to be adopted by a major military power. It was the product of a genuine genius, John Cantius Garand. While the M1 was never officially referred to as the Garand, it is known by no other name so widely. First adopted in 1936, the M1 Rifle served the US in World War II, Korea, a host of "police actions" and interventions, and, in the hands of allies, in the Vietnam War. Even there the US Army fielded accurized sniper M1 rifles even though the M1 had by that time been replaced by the M14 and later the M16.

The M1 Garand was in the words of General Patton "The greatest battle implement ever devised."

Specifications
Caliber:	.30 (.30-06)
Length:	43.6 in.
Weight unloaded:	9 lb 8 oz
Barrel:	24 in. 4 grooves, right hand twist
Magazine:	8 round internal box
Operation:	Semiautomatic, Gas Operated
Muzzle velocity:	2800 feet per second
Ammunition:	.30 Cal. M2 Ball
Max. Effective Range:	440 yds